


A To-Do List

by arlenejp



Category: Match Point (2005)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 21:43:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arlenejp/pseuds/arlenejp
Summary: Don't have to know the movie to read this little fic.Chris marries into a wealthy family. Has an affair with his brother-in-law's old girlfriend. Twists and turns. And a list.





	A To-Do List

Taking in big breaths, I'm grateful to be away from my own house and able to relax.  
Our wives are out for the evening, and I've joined my brother-in-law Tom at his house.  
We've finished watching a polo match, and Tom shuts the television, stands. "So, terrible shame about Nola, her death. You were at the police station also. They questioned you."  
Looking up, "how do you know?"  
"They also called me in. After reading Nolas' diary," pausing," did you know she kept one?"  
"No, not until the police showed it to me."  
"You got away with her murder, you know, and it was because of me."  
Shaken, "what? I didn't do--," my fist tightens on the arm of the chair.  
"Come on, Chris, I know it was you who killed her. Let me give you the rundown, in case you have forgotten. You knew the old woman who lived downstairs from Nola, got her to open her door, made it look like the burglary of a drug addict."  
"No, no--," I can't let this go on. My whole self is shaking.  
"Stop and listen. Let me finish this twisted tale. You knew exactly the time that Nola would be coming up the elevator, and you shot her, making it look like she interrupted the burglar." Turning to stare at me, I know my face has drained of color, "but if it weren't for me, Chris, you would be in prison right now."  
"What, what are you talking about?"  
Sitting across, his hands clasped, that slight smug look he can have, he becomes serious. "Days before, I had gone to her place to give her the name and phone number of a producer. I had met him at a party. I don't know why I didn't just phone her. No," upon seeing my smug look," I didn't go with any ulterior motive. I saw your cuff links on her nightstand and put two and two together. I confronted her, and she told me she was with child, and you were divorcing my sister to marry her. That was not true, I knew. You would never divorce my sister. Chloe was too precious to you. Precious because of her money, her father."  
Collapsing deeper into the seat, my head in my hands, I know he's right.  
He continues in a neutral tone, "I naturally realized you were putting her off. You couldn't give up this fantastical life you're now leading. After all, Chris, chauffeured car, rich foods, fabulous clothes. And doesn't Father think you're the best thing to happen to his business? Yes, you're going places in the company. Maybe higher than myself. You couldn't give all that up. Not for a low-bred girl who screws whatever comes her way."  
"But what has that to do with the diary?" my hands shaking so much I can't pick up the teacup.  
Taking his time, slowly sipping his tea, standing up. "Come over to the window, Chris. Let's see outside. You have about the same acreage as I do. The same comforts that I grew up with are now yours. You, a man from a working-class family. How did you manage it? How did you crawl into my sisters' bed?"  
"Tom, I didn't do anything other than date her. She fell in love with me. "  
"But," lighting a cigarette, not offering me one, "you were not feeling the same because you screwed my girlfriend. Went after her."  
"No, Tom. It didn't happen like that! I didn't go after her. She enticed me, lured me. You know how Nola gets that look about her?"  
Taking a puff, "But you fell for it. How and when? Give me the details."  
"Why?" scratching the back of my neck, nervous.  
"Tell me," sounding like his stern father.  
I stare out the window, the night as black as myself. "I chased after her one afternoon. I saw her run out of the house in an absolute downpour and became worried. When I caught up with her, I don't know--it just happened."  
Silence.  
"In the rain, where?"  
"In the grass," clenching at the curtain.  
Stepping away, he grabs my arm," in the grass in the rain. Oh, how poetic! You could write a song about it."  
"Tom, I don't get it. What has this to do with anything?" Shaking, trying to tear away from his grasp, but he holds on.  
"Just clearing the air, that's all. And after the fuck in the rain, you couldn't keep away from her. Had no willpower."  
"Please let me go," releasing my arm, I step away. "Yes, es Tom. That's what happened. And one day, when I had no condom and told her, she still insisted we make love."  
"Screw is the word, Chris."Finishing his cigarette, and dousing it in his teacup that had been sitting since this morning, "sit next to me, Chris, and let me tell you how I saved your ass. No, don't look down. Look me in the eyes. After seeing the cufflinks, I decided my sister needed saving and told Nola that you and I had become lovers."  
"What the fuck," jumping out of my seat to distance myself, shivering.  
"Told her that Father would never believe her because she was just an actress and after as much money as she could wangle from him."  
"Tom, how could you?" wringing my hands.  
"But," walking close to me, taking my arm and pulling me towards the bookcase, "she believed me and wrote it in her diary."  
Leaning my body against the shelves, one foot between my thighs, he's close enough for me to smell the odor of the cigarette. I'm paralyzed with fear. What's he up to?  
"When the police read the part about you and me, the Sargeant understood. He couldn't continue to harass you because it would upset the family. And father dear gives very, very generously to the police force," unbuckling, unzipping himself. "And now, you see, dear Chris, if this is the lifestyle you have to have, then it comes with a to-do list."  
Beginning to understand as his pants lower to the ground, he murmurs, "Yes Chris; this is blackmail," his voice a sigh as I kneel," blackmail."


End file.
